1. Multilingualism and Language Choice in Sub-Saharan Africa
Manuela Noske
October 15, 2015
Microsoft Corporation

2. Facts Africa is 2nd largest continent in size & population
Over a billion people - fastest growing population rate in the world
5 of the 10 fastest growing economies are in Sub-Saharan Africa:
Ethiopia
DR Congo
Côte d’Ivoire
Mozambique
Tanzania
Home to a third of the world‘s languages
Source: Business Insider
By 2015 the number is projected to double, so there will be 1 billion people living in Africa who are under the age of 35

3. Fun Facts
Ethiopia inaugurated the electrified Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit (AA-LRT) in September 2015
First light railway on African continent with two lines and a total length of 34 km
We have 1 line in Seattle that is 23 km long

4. Fun Facts
Nigeria has fastest growing rate of new champagne consumption in the world - second only to France
Champagne consumption projected to reach 1.1 million liters by 2017

5. Fun Facts
Nigeria has its own fashion catwalk (“Lagos Fashion & Design Week”)

6. Africa: The Last Untapped Markets
Increase in disposable income has companies investigate new business opportunities
Understanding African customer needs & preferences is key to successful product strategy
Language is an integral part of that strategy
Can companies be successful relying only on European languages?
Or should they localize products & services to gain brand recognition and adoption?
If localization is advised, in what languages?
There has been a lot of positive news coming out of Africa lately. There is a growing middle class, a growing consumer class that has disposable income to spare.

7. Goals of Presentation
Gain clearer understanding of language situation in Africa and practice of multilingualism
Understand factors that motivate language choice and their implications for localization planning
Develop deeper appreciation of challenges of translating and localizing products, services & content for markets in Sub-Saharan Africa
Provide an outline of the linguistic landscape of Sub-Saharan Africa, both in terms of what languages are spoken where, but also how (i.e., in what situations) they are being used

8. Africa: A Linguistic Kaleidoscope
High number and diversity of languages & dialects
Great fluidity in linguistic practices
Ongoing linguistic adaptations to shifting social & cultural norms

9. The Colonial Language Legacy
After independence, African language policies largely favored European languages
Were considered better suited for purpose of nation-building
Did not favor specific ethnic groups
Used by educated, ruling elite
Low confidence & low status of African languages
Exceptions:
Swahili in Tanzania
Addition of 9 African languages as official languages in South Africa in 1996, totaling 11

10. The Colonial Language Legacy
European languages typically used as language of instruction in schools
Up to 90% of Africans assumed to not be fully competent in any of the European languages
Persistent competence gaps between
Genders
Urban & rural population

11. Official Languages
Nigeria has several important African languages, but only recognizes English as an official language
African languages are increasingly taking on role of official languages
Source: Wikipedia

12. Language Families in Africa
Source: Wikipedia

13. How Many Languages in Africa?
No definitive answers
Depends on criteria used to identify what a language is
Structural approach bases classification on discrete linguistic features (grammar & lexicon)
Sociolinguistic approach bases classification on social, cultural and/or political factors
Emphasis can be on differences or commonalities

14. How Many Languages in Africa?
Two contrasting views:
Ethnologue (18th edition):
2,138 languages
CASAS (Center for Advanced Studies of African Society):
12 to 15 “core” languages (spoken by 75% to 85% of all Africans)

15. Criteria for Language Identification (ISO 639-3)

16. Criteria for Language Identification
Language variants can be
Considered same language for linguistic reasons, and yet
Identified as different languages for ethnic or political reasons
A language is a dialect with an army and a navy
- Max Weinreich
We can end up with languages that are mutually intelligible.

17. Language Use and Multilingualism
Multilingualism refers to
Language situation in a nation or society
Competence of an individual
Multilingual individual speaks
L1 as native language
L2, L3, etc. as second languages to varying degrees
Multilingualism is a continuum
Full Competence
Limited Competence

18. Language Use and Multilingualism
In multinational states, individuals are typically multilingual
Multilingual individuals choose which language to use depending on sociolinguistic context
Who are they communicating with?
What are they trying to accomplish?
Often use “code-switching”, i.e., mix two or more languages in single conversation or utterance
Increase in mobility leads to increase in multilingualism

19. Language Use and Multilingualism
Sociolinguistic Context
Online
Urban Context
Secondary Schools
Local Region
Home L1
Ekegusii L2
Luo L3
Swahili L4
English

20. Language Use and Multilingualism
Multilingual practices contribute to language change creating a new superdiversity in urban centers

21. Language Use and Trade Languages
In multinational states, trade or vehicular languages (aka lingua franca) can emerge
Used as second languages for communication between diverse groups that don’t share a common language
Are predominantly spoken
Have millions of speakers as L2 or L3
Important trade languages:
Swahili, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Fulani, Kanuri, Bambara, Jula, Mandinka, Lingala, Kikongo, Sanko

22. Language Use: Swahili as Trade Language
L1: million speakers
L2: Up to 150 million speakers as lingua franca
Modern standard based on Kiunguja dialect
Source: NUGL Online Version June 4, 2009

23. Language Use: Swahili as Trade Language
State of diglossia:
Standard used in media (radio, TV, newsprint) & official communications (High status)
L2 variant(s) used for informal communications (Low status)
High and low variants differ in grammar and lexicon
Sociolinguistic Context
High
Low
Sermon x
Instructions to servants
Parliament speech
Chat with urban friends
Negotiating taxi fare

24. Summary
High number & diversity of languages, often without clearly developed linguistic standards
Lack of clear language identification and lack of standards pose challenges for localization industry
Language use is fluid, with speakers choosing different languages depending on sociolinguistic context
Existence of high and low variants of same language need to be addressed

25. Recommendations Allow for language choice
Contribute to harmonization & standardization efforts
Investigate effective ways of adapting localized resources for closely related languages
Incorporate agile linguistic change management processes to cope with rapidly developing languages
Advance understanding of local language use by
Sharing linguistic feedback on localized products and observations of user behavior
Share localized resources to help drive development of MT solutions

26. Language is a Bridge
Öresund bridge